Hungarian GP: Vettel rues time lost behind Button

Sebastian Vettel said that he'd been in contention to claim the win in Hungary, but that getting stuck behind the McLaren of Jenson Button has been the crucial turning point.

Sebastian Vettel said that he could have won in Hungary on Sunday, but that getting stuck behind Jenson Button's McLaren had thwarted his plans and ultimately left him in third place at the chequered flag.

Even though he hadn't able to make a move on race leader Lewis Hamilton off the starting grid, Vettel said that he'd still been in with a chance of winning the race - right up to the moment when he emerged from his first pit stop behind the Mclaren.

"The key issue in the race was when I got stuck behind Jenson," he said. "There's no one to blame for that, I lost more time than expected on the way into the first stop and we came out just behind him.

"I couldn't get past; I tried to force it and damaged my front wing, which was a mistake from my side," he admitted. "I was maybe trying to urge a bit too much."

"Probably the decisive moment in Sebastian's race was after the first stop when he emerged behind Jenson," agreed Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, analysing the race after the chequered flag. "We weren't able to get past quickly and sustained a bit of wing damage.

"That then effectively released Lewis and put us back into the realms of fighting with Kimi on a two stop. However, despite the damage, Sebastian was able to maintain a very strong pace and pushed all the way to the flag," added Horner.

Vettel briefly found himself in the same situation later in the race, but this time he was quickly released and attempted to run down the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen which by now held second place, albeit on a now very worn set of medium tyres.

Vettel felt that gave him the chance to take the position from the Lotus, but despite everything he could throw at Raikkonen the Finn clung on and rebuffed every move all the way to the chequered flag.

"I would have loved the race to have been a bit longer, as it was fun with Kimi at the end," said Vettel. "It's hard to pass on this track.

"I got close but I wasn't in the prime overtaking spot at that point; I was trying to set something up for the next corners, but it didn't work," he added. "It was close with Kimi and nice to be on the podium again today."

As for Horner, the fact that both Vettel and Red Bull go into the August summer break with formidable leads in the driver and constructor championships respectively is reason enough for a big smile of relief.

"We've extended our lead in the drivers and constructors championships and everyone now deserves a well-earned rest to recharge their batteries for when we come back at the end of August," said the team boss.